Global Studies presents three diverse speakers
Tanisha Roe-Thomas
Issue date: 4/5/06 Section: News
The Global Studies Speaker Series presented "Religion and Politics in Global Perspective: A Roundtable on Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Views", in the Roberts Recital Hall on March 30, 2006. Dr. Richard Marcus, Assistant Professor of Political Science, is the Coordinator of the Global Studies Speaker Series and served as moderator of the event. This is the second affair of the Speakers Series, and the Global Studies Program intends to have at least one similar event planned for each semester.
The roundtable was led by three dynamic guest speakers, Dr. Awadh Binhazim, Dr. John Pottenger, and Dr. Kenneth Wald.
Pottenger, the first lecturer, is an Associate Professor of Political Science and the Director of the Office of International Programs at UAH. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in classical, medieval, and modern political philosophy, American political thought, contemporary social theory, and political ethics and public policy. Pottenger started off speaking from the Christian perspective on politics and religion, with his speech titled "Christian Diversity and Social Responsibility." He began by discussing three ingredients in contemporary politics that he believed helped aid in understanding the Christian presence in politics: Liberal democracy, Christian public theology, and Christian political theology.
"Thanks to the arguments and insights of Thomas Hobbs, John Locke, [Baron de] Montesquieu, Adam Smith, James Madison, and many other political philosophers, writers and observers, politics in the modern world are usually conducted within the institutions of liberal democracy. That is, the institutions are themselves predicated upon a philosophical foundation that is committed to liberal or individual rights, and democratic methods of decision making," said Pottenger.
Christian public theology transmits the moral beliefs of the religious denomination to a wider audience for consideration of public policy and debate. Christian public theologies are grounded in some understanding of the implications of revealed truth and redemptive history. Founded in scripture and in the tradition of the church, Christian public theology attempts to validate, examine, and offer a critique of public life. With regard to public theology, the mainline Christian denominations generally accept liberal democracy as morally legitimate even if they do not always approve of various public policies.
The roundtable was led by three dynamic guest speakers, Dr. Awadh Binhazim, Dr. John Pottenger, and Dr. Kenneth Wald.
Pottenger, the first lecturer, is an Associate Professor of Political Science and the Director of the Office of International Programs at UAH. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in classical, medieval, and modern political philosophy, American political thought, contemporary social theory, and political ethics and public policy. Pottenger started off speaking from the Christian perspective on politics and religion, with his speech titled "Christian Diversity and Social Responsibility." He began by discussing three ingredients in contemporary politics that he believed helped aid in understanding the Christian presence in politics: Liberal democracy, Christian public theology, and Christian political theology.
"Thanks to the arguments and insights of Thomas Hobbs, John Locke, [Baron de] Montesquieu, Adam Smith, James Madison, and many other political philosophers, writers and observers, politics in the modern world are usually conducted within the institutions of liberal democracy. That is, the institutions are themselves predicated upon a philosophical foundation that is committed to liberal or individual rights, and democratic methods of decision making," said Pottenger.
Christian public theology transmits the moral beliefs of the religious denomination to a wider audience for consideration of public policy and debate. Christian public theologies are grounded in some understanding of the implications of revealed truth and redemptive history. Founded in scripture and in the tradition of the church, Christian public theology attempts to validate, examine, and offer a critique of public life. With regard to public theology, the mainline Christian denominations generally accept liberal democracy as morally legitimate even if they do not always approve of various public policies.